Taylor Fritz was on song against Carlos Alcaraz | Image Credit: IMAGO / Imagn Images
World no.1 Carlos Alcaraz was taken down by US no. 1 Taylor Fritz in the Laver Cup on Sunday at the Chase Center. Fritz, part of Team World, beat Alcaraz, part of Team Europe, 6-3, 6-2. While this was the fourth time the two had faced off, Fritz registered his first victory against the Spaniard.
With that, Team World now leads reigning champions Team Europe 7-3. Fritz, who was in scintillating form today, spoke about how he adjusted to the conditions and went about his business:
"I had a pretty clear idea of what I needed to do out there. The court conditions are really slow, so I felt I had to press a little more with my rally ball, to be very consistent. If I didn’t, he would beat me to the punch and hurt me. On a surface like this, it’s hard for me to hurt him, while it’s easy for him to put me out of position. I did a really good job of that."
The American broke serve early in the first set to set the tone.
"I accepted that if I made errors, I made errors, but it was going to give me the best chance to win. I did a really good job of hitting big, doing it consistently, pulling the trigger on the right balls, and playing the important points fearlessly."
Regarding Team World captain Andre Agassi's support, Fritz said:
"It’s awesome to see him fired up. To be honest, I feel like it’s been the same with Johnny Mack or Andre—when they get pumped up during a match, it fires you up as well. Both of them have been really into it on the bench, and I love that. They’re tennis legends getting excited about me playing."
Fritz was pumped up after his win | Credit: IMAGO / Imagn Images
Fritz last came up against Alcaraz at Wimbledon, where he lost 4-6, 7-5, 3-6, 6-7.
"I definitely take a lot of confidence from the Wimbledon match because it was very tight, but at the same time I kind of threw away the first set by getting broken in the first game. In that match, the set I won and the one where I had set points were the two I was really happy with. So I took a lot of confidence from that, but I also know those conditions were much better for me than these. Today I felt I had to play with a lot more risk than I did in that Wimbledon match."
Elaborating on that, he said:
"If anyone wants to look at the 15-30 point of the first game and the first point of the second game, I pulled the trigger on a forehand inside and hit it well. On a faster surface, I’d probably get rewarded, but on this surface, the first one he hits a clean winner and the second one he rips across—it might as well have been a winner. I can get burned a lot here if I pull the trigger on the wrong ball because he’s so fast and good on the run. I really had to take more risk with my rally balls to avoid being on defense all the time."
Fritz also touched up what winning on home turf means to him:
"It’s such an amazing moment, and I’ll say it again: what really matters for me isn’t the win itself, but how I played. It’s about the level, taking advantage of big moments, pulling the trigger, and going out and taking it. I win a lot of matches just by serving and pushing, and that’s kind of been my style this year. But this is the tennis I want to play, and it makes me so happy to play at that level."
